Feeling Chilly? Try My Winter Parsnip Soup!

Craving some hot food now that the temperatures have decided to drop? Give yourself nourishing and delicious!! I

f you love root veggies, as I do, and want something a little different from carrot or squash to mix it up, try this.

My parsnip soup is warm and has a ton of flavor, and there’s a very slight hint of what’s almost a minty flavor that makes it feel even more appropriate for wintertime.

It’s warming and yummy, and it pairs well with hearty greens, like kale or collards, too, so it’s easy to round the meal out and get plenty of beauty vegetables.

Serves: 2-4
Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, (about 1 cup, coarsely chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 5 parsnips (about 2.5-3 cups, washed, peeled and chopped)
• 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk
• High-quality sea salt to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

Directions: One of my favorite things about this dish is how little time and effort it actually takes. It does need to simmer for a little while, but you can do other things while you wait. This soup is so simple to make!

1. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat, and add the onions. Saute for a few moments until translucent. Add the garlic, and cook for one more minute. Next add the parsnips and cook for another few minutes, stirring well!
2. Add the four cups of broth and parsnips. Raise the heat to a boil, then reduce the heat some to a simmer.
3. Chop the rosemary and add it to the broth when the soup starts to simmer, leaving some to the side to use as garnish.
4. Cover the pot and simmer until the parsnips are soft.
5. When finished, turn off the heat and carefully blend with a hand blender or transfer into batches into your Vitamix and blend until smooth.
6. Add back into the pot, and stir in the coconut milk. Heat back up.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Ladle into bowls, garnish with rosemary, and enjoy!

This soup is excellent for freezing, so make a big pot and enjoy a quick and healthy dinner on a night when you don’t have time to make something from scratch.

Why Parsnips?

Don’t look at parsnips as carrots’ unappealing, colorless cousins! It’s true, they look like carrots that have lost their color, but they come with a set of health benefits all their own. They taste sweet and nutty, but they also have a little bit of a peppery kick.

They’re not as devoid of flavor as they are of the vibrant color that usually lines the produce aisles. Here’s what you can get from parsnips:

• Folate: You can get more folate (a B vitamin) from parsnips than you can from carrots. Folate is something that all women of child-bearing age need to make sure they’re getting in their diets, but it’s also important for everyone else, too. It’s used in the creation of healthy cells.
• Potassium: Here’s another thing you can get more of in parsnips than in carrots. Potassium helps build proteins, break down carbs, build muscle, and assists with normal body growth and heart function.
• Fiber: You know what fiber does, and there’s a lot of it in parsnips! Fiber helps detox your body, gathering up the toxins in your body on its way through and then pushing it outside.
• Vitamin C: Who says you have to drink orange juice to get your vitamin C? Parsnips help boost your immunity against all those germs lurking everywhere in the winter because of its vitamin C content.

What about Garlic and Onions?

Garlic and onions serve a much greater purpose than their flavor. It’s true that you can add sautéed garlic and onions to almost any dish, including soup, to enrich the flavor.

However, they go beyond that and serve a much greater purpose. They may help guard against cancer and heart disease.

Garlic is actually quite the digestive aid, and it has an antiseptic effect. Onions work as blood cleansers and has antibacterial properties.

They’re both good to eat all year, but especially during cold and flu season. These have a place in a lot of Beauty Detox dishes.

Rosemary Has Benefits, Too!

Don’t forget about this beautiful little beauty herb. How perfect is it that rosemary looks like a little piece of a Christmas tree when it works so well in winter dishes?

It’s said to be great for the brain and concentration because it boosts circulation and gets more blood to the head. Other benefits may include improved immunity and reduced inflammation.

These are all nice little perks in the wintertime, especially when all you really want to do is slow down, curl up, and wait for spring.

Remember, winter doesn’t mean you have to suffer through cold meals; take advantage of the cold and use it as an opportunity to make hot, veggie-filled soups to enjoy with other vegetables.

Even if you’re freezing, there’s always a bright side, right? And as I mentioned above, you can freeze a lot of these hot dishes and just thaw them overnight, then reheat them when you need a convenient meal. That’s another plus to the cold!

Enjoy and be well.

Love,

Kimberly